According to latest available statistics placed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA)in Parliament, 19.22 per cent of the 4,982 sanctioned posts in the Indian Police Service (IPS) remain vacant. Of the 4,982 posts, 4,024 have been filled, including 456 women, leaving 958 posts vacant, Deccan Herald reports on March 22. Among the states, Odisha and West Bengal have the highest number of vacancies with 75 each. If one takes the proportion of vacancies, Odisha has 38.46 per cent of the 195 posts remaining vacant while that of Bengal is 21.67 per cent of 347 posts allocated to it as on January 1, 2019.
Jammu and Kashmir with 69 vacancies out of the 147 posts, however, has the highest proportion of vacant posts at 46.93 per cent. Uttar Pradesh, which has the highest number of posts allocated at 517, has 72 vacancies but when it comes to proportion, one of the lowest at 13.92 per cent. Karnataka is positioned seventh in the list with 40 vacancies out of 215 IPS posts (18.6 per cent) along with Tamil Nadu, which has a better proportion of 14.49 per cent vacancies out of 276. Maharashtra has 62 vacancies out of 317 (19.55 per cent), AGMUT (Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram, Union Territories) has 57 out of 309 (18.44 per cent) while Kerala has 42 vacancies (24.41 per cent of 172).